Christmas commutes

The dreaded Christmas commute home is in full swing. I pass 4 shopping centers. This slows the ride considerably. And then there is the daily accident making it a 2 hours trip from office door to hearth and hubby. Such a long commute condemns me to repeated news cycles so even the radio brings no solace.

Tessa is on the home stretch now too, driving on Thursday from Ashville NC to Pittsfield MA in one fell swoop. From there it is a short ride home on Friday. We think Tessa and Steve will still recognize us, despite all the hours we spent in doctors’ offices, but will the dogs?

Axel has been preparing the nest for homecoming – cleaning the barn (our Brazilian cleaning lady in the lead) and washing the dog-haired sheets, stale from two months of idleness. Tessa and Steve will thus move back in until they find a place of their own (anyone?) between Manchester and Boston that has room for all six of them: 2 humans, 2 dogs and 2 cars.

At work new stuff keeps piling on old. I have moved a long way from my miserable re-entry blues a year ago. Among them some pretty exciting assignments that will allow me to explore beyond the boundaries, in the outer periphery of what I am currently familiar with.

I am learning to live with my hand(icap), periodically unwrapping my hand to massage the stiff fingers but also to type a little faster. Axel massaged the hand yesterday with a ‘poet-warrior’ blend of oils (ginger, arnica and cayenne), recommended by our masseuse. I didn’t care that much about the warrior part but the poet part of the blend was real nice.